The story of Rikács (Screamy), Pogi (Patty) and Tipli (Bolty)

The story of Rikács (Screamy), Pogi (Patty) and Tipli (Bolty)
2011.02.06.

There is an old Hungarian children's song about a little fox called Vuk. It tells the story of the smart and agile little creature who knows no fear and overcomes all possible dangers and obstacles. The story, originally written by the famous Hungarian writer István Fekete, was so popular that even a cartoon was made based on the life and adventures of Vuk the fox. When we hear about this popular children's story, it's hard not to connect it to the little foxes we took under our care in the animal shelter.

Their mother gave birth to the litter on a cattle farm in Gölle, the village where István Fekete, Vuk's creator was born. The mother must have been scared away by locals or died, because one day she did not come back to the puppies. Caretakers of the farm animals contacted us and asked for help; we are very grateful that they managed to care for the pups until our Fox Rescue Team could take them in.

Despite all the care, the puppies were in a bad condition when they arrived. The traditional way of feeding them with a rubber teat didn't prove enough and we had to feed them directly to the stomach with a stomach probe. This requires a lot of patience and experience, but in case of these weak and very young puppies unable to suck by themselves, this was the only way to save their lives. Thus we could provide them the ideal amount of food.

During these days two newcomers joined the fox-team: Melák (Big Boy) and Sonja, two badger pups, who were taken in to the shelter in a similarly bad condition. Their story is shocking: the badger family was dug out of their underground nest by a poacher who used them to train his dogs to hunt. Locals of the village called the police and the police gave the animals to us to take care of them.

The inhabitants of this strange kindergarten got better and better, were vaccinated, and enjoyed each other's company.

They became stronger every day and started to trust people – the “smoothskins”, as Vuk called humans in the children's story.

The puppies, so precious to us, grew up, and turned into healthy and beautiful individuals of their species.

When they grew up, they had to move to the Fox Reserve of the shelter. In the first days they were housed in a mobile kennel from where they could see and hear the other foxes. Luckily, it didn't take long for them to find their place in the fox community, and now they live as full members of the big fox family of the shelter.

We are happy to see them free but safe!

More pictures are availableHERE!